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15

Jan, 2021

2021 Season Update

Dear Members,

On behalf of the Sunset Little League Board of Directors, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope you and your families are safe and healthy and doing well during these trying times. COVID-19 has forced us all to live our lives differently over the past year, which included postponing or canceling our extra-curricular activities, with youth baseball and softball being no exception.

I know many of you are wondering, or have been inquiring, if Sunset Little League will be having a Spring Season this year. Although we are still faced with many challenges due to the pandemic, the most important being able to offer a season safely and in a way that will minimize or prevent the spread of COVID-19, we have decided, with the support of our District Administration, to open our Spring registration in hopes that we will be able to play this upcoming spring or at least by early summer. A lot of our planning and decision making will depend on the State re-opening guidelines as well as the City of Rio Rancho granting us access to our leased complex and fields. As of today, unfortunately, these remain closed.

I understand and share the frustrations you may have regarding our season status, but I want to assure you that the Sunset Little League Board is very committed and will take all the necessary steps to run a spring/summer season if or once the opportunity presents itself. Until that time, we will remain optimistic and I ask that you remain optimistic as well.

Before I get to registrations, I would like to share with you some exciting news that has occurred to Sunset Little League, that being, after two year of trying, and after several negotiations, various revisions and submissions, our boundaries have officially changed. Why did they change you ask? Ultimately our boundaries changed to be more in line with the high school boundaries which more evenly balances the populations of players in each league to the high schools they someday will attend. Secondly, the boundaries changed to accommodate families that reside in the residences that surround our fields, often within walking distance, and allow them play for us. Up until this change, these families would have to travel across town to Cibola, our sister league, to play.

What does this boundary change mean for you? The good news is that all of you can still register with Sunset Little League, regardless of this change. For most of you, those of you that reside South of Northern Boulevard, you remain in Sunset’s boundaries regardless of the change and thus will register your kids as if no change occurred.

For the rest of us, myself included, or rather those who reside North of Northern Boulevard and West of Unser, primarily families who reside in the North Hills and Northern Meadows areas, we will register with Sunset by using a residency waiver. This waiver allows families that fall out of one’s own boundaries or into another league’s boundaries, when boundaries change, to continue to play for the league where they have a previously established residency. In other words, if you were registered with Sunset Little League in the past, and have not registered to play with another league prior to this season, even though we had to cancel last year’s seasons, you can continue to play for Sunset up until you no longer have children registered in the league or once you choose to register with the league assigned based on your current residency. This also includes younger siblings of players who have not been able to register recently, due to their age for example, can still register using this waiver. In the next few days, we will be opening registrations and will be following up with families needing a waiver.

Sunset Little League will be opening Online registrations Saturday, January 15, 2021 beginning at 8:00am.Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 all registrations this season will need to be completed online. Please visit our website at https://tshq.bluesombrero.com/sunsetbaseball to reserve your spot. At this time, we will not be requiring immediate payment of registration fees; however, we do have an option for an initial minimum payment and then a postponed arrangement for the remaining balance to be paid later, at least until we have a better idea of if when we will be able to play. If you elected to transfer your registration from last year and did not request and receive a refund, your fees will be considered paid in full for the players you had registered and who will continue this upcoming season; however, you still will need to complete a new volunteer form for the 2021 season and verify division placement and uniform sizing for your player(s). Those of you that did not elect to transfer your registration, and did not request a refund, you should see an account credit of last year’s registration fees. These funds can be applied to this year’s registration. If you do not see this amount on your account, please notify the league immediately so this error can be corrected.

At this time and until further notice, we will not be offering any new refunds. Only those of you who have made a previous request and are still awaiting payment will be eligible. Unfortunately, Sunset Little League still has lease obligations and recurring costs that must be paid, and without the ability to generate revenues from concession sales or sponsorships and fundraising opportunities, we simply will not be able to operate without retaining a fair amount of funds to pay these obligations. We promise that any additional and future requests for refunds will be processed as additional funding becomes available.

If you have questions or need more clarification or a waiver, please email us at [email protected] or please call us 505-249-0838.

Sincerely,
Leon Paboucek
President